Many years ago when I
lived in the Peak s of Derbyshire I was told a tale or two on the
long cold winter evenings either spent by the fireside of more likely
propping up the bar at the old Mucky Duck!
One is never certain if
these tales are true,often there is a tiny nugget of truth wrapped up
in a mire of local mythology. To demonstrate this fact, there is a
Pub called The Mermaid high up in the moorlands ,beside it is a pool
which as well as being the haunt of a beautiful mermaid , is reputed to be bottomless. One day a party of art students ,of which I was one decided to find out, we
acquired a diving suit and on a brilliant sunny afternoon our
adventure began.
We attracted quite a
crowd and the pub did a roaring trade. The diver waded into the
middle of the pool,stumbled over a bicycle frame and barked his shins
so badly that he had to give up.
Another recruit fared
little better, he removed from the pool amidst cheers and applause
two more bicycle frames ,two decrepit prams, sixteen oil drums and
the fender from a mini cooper!
I shan't trouble you
with the whole list,just the highlight you understand.
We were disappointed of
course but the landlord was so pleased with his busy afternoon that
he invited us in for drinks, we finally left just before closing time
that night!The pool was not bottomless but on our way down l
the road as we passed
the pool ,the simmering shape of a pretty young woman appeared for a
moment before vanishing in tot he pool. Not the Mermaid but the ghost
of a young woman, who on finding herself in trouble appealed to her
lover for help. The young man met her beside the pool one night and
there he drowned her.
Considering her
condition everyone believe it was a suicide,but the guilty party
eventually confessed after being followed home by her ghost night
after night for a month after her death.
Spooky or what?
Anyway, back to the
weather story. High in the Dark Peak,a wild and lonely place you
understand, a dreadful tragedy overtook a family and in the space of
a fortnight three of them were dead. The first, the father of the
family went out to look for sheep and got lost. Search parties were
useless and his body was not found for a week when the thaw came.
The second victim, the
eldest son was out searching for his fathers body as the thaw was
rapidly melting the ice. The river was a torrent and as he crossed a
pack horse bridge it collapsed and he was swept away. That night they
brought home the body of his father,the son was not found for a
week,his body had become entangled in a rotary clothes drier and was
found by the local rag and bone man.
The third victim in
this tragic family was the Grand mother who while throwing some
potato peelings into the midden missed her footing and fell in, The
accident was seen by the driver of the mobile village shop. He
manfully strove to pull her out and did eventually mange to do so.
Unfortunately he was not man enough to give the old lady mouth to
mouth resuscitation....well under the circumstances.........! To make
matters worse the families name was Weatherall, rather ironic don't
you think?
The Local news paper
picked up on the story and in true tabloid fashion ran the headline
“Winter weather wipe out Weatheralls .” The Weatherall family
held a single funeral service for the three unfortunate members, at
the local parish church on sunny day a few weeks later.
This time the headline
trumpeted “Sun shines on the Weatheralls at last”.
True or false, your
guess is as good as mine, but I would hate to be in that reporters
boots if the Weatheralls catch up with him.
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